REPRESENTING THE UNREPRESENTED IN CLASS-ACTIONS SEEKING MONETARY RELIEF

Class actions are important and useful, both to deter wrongful conduct and to provide compensation for injured plaintiffs. In complex cases, however, the existing class action structure falters. In this Article , Messrs. Wolfman and Morrison argue that in ''settlement class action s'' the current class action rules do not adequately protect class mem bers whose interests do not coincide with those of the class represent atives and the class attorneys. Through a survey of recent, prominent settlement class actions, the authors show that the current system doe s not fairly treat subgroups in a class with respect to matters as div erse as future injury, fee distribution, applicable law and timing of payments. In response to these problems and others, Messrs. Wolfman an d Morrison ultimately urge the adoption of amendments to the class act ion rules to handle settlement class actions. The effect of these amen dments would be twofold: first, to ensure that ''unrepresented'' class members would be represented by counsel who would have adequate oppor tunity to champion their interests; and second, to allow a judge handl ing a settlement class action to evaluate the substantive provisions o f a proposed settlement, and to impose or reject certain terms in orde r to assure fairness within the class, as well as between the class an d defendants.